Manufacture of artificial fuel.



NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALEXANDER EDWIN TUCKER, OF BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND.

MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL FUEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 687,350, dated November 26, 1901.

' Application filed January 12, 1901.

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER EDWIN TUCKER, a subject of the Queen of England, andaresident of Birmingham, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Manufacture of Artificial Fuel, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to produce at small cost artificial blocks or briquets of fuel that will not disintegrate or be affected by exposure to rain or damp, and which will not soften when heated, and which on burning will be as free from smoke and ash as the original fuel employed in their manufacture.

In carrying myinvention into effect I crush the coal, charcoal, or lignite which it is desired to form into blocks or briquets (unless it is already in a-fine state of division) to the requisite degree of fineness in any ordinary manner, sometimes adding a little water to impart such a degree of moisture to the crushed mass as will assist the action of the agglutinant to be hereinafter described. I find that the results are obtained when the fuel contains about ten per cent. of moisture uniformly permeated throughout the mass. Such permeation is obtained by efficient mixing and by allowing the substance to stand for a few hours to insure that every part of it shall become moistened.

The agglutinant which I employ is prepared from grain, preferably dari, which is a wellknown grain or seed largely used in India and which can be obtained at small cost and is characterized by its freedom from fiber. After crushing I soak the dari in water for about six hours or until it softens, and I then steam or boil the whole until it becomes uniformly gelatinous and on cooling assumes the nature of a jelly. This jelly I heat in water, and so obtain therefrom a gummy and translucent substance having the consistency of thick cream, which forms my agglutinant.

To the crushed fuel hereinbefore referred to I add such a quantity of my agglu'tinant as will give about one and a quarter parts, by weight, of the original dari-that is to say, 98.75 parts of the crushed fuel and 1.25 parts of dari-and after treatment of the latter as aforesaid I add the liquid agglutinant to the weight of the fuel. I then thoroughly mix by any suitable mechanical pugging or other means until all the particles of coal are Serial No. 43,072. (No specimens.)

covered by a coating or film of the agglutinant.

In certain cases I find it convenient to gelatinize the dari after crushing in an almost dry state by means of high-pressure steam or other suitable means and in this gelatinous and almost dry state to mix with the coal and then steam the mixture in the pug-mill, the amountofsteam introduced being determined by the condition of the mass as it enters the press-molds, the proportion of the agglutinant in this method being substantially the same as in the first-described treatment. By the term gelatinize I mean that the dari is reduced to the physical condition of jelly. In either treatment the mass is subsequently formed into molds and subjected to great pressure in any usual manner, and thereby formed into blocks or briquets of the required shape and dimensions. After pressing the blocks are dried and are then ready for use. To provide for the additional resistance of such blocks or briquets to the penetration of moisture, I sometimes add to the plastic mass formed by agglutinant and fuel, as hereinbefore described, about one per cent. of paraffin-oil or a cheap wax or fat, with or without thinning by paraffin-oil, such additions made to the aforesaid plastic mass when the latter is Warm. The whole is then thoroughly mixed by repugging or otherwise.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is 1. The herein-described process of manufacturing artificial blocks of fuel consisting in boiling dari to secure an agglutinant substance, mixing said substance with crushed coal or the like, and subsequently molding the mixture into blocks, said dari being a non-fibrous grain substance, substantially as described.

2. The herein-described artificial fuel consisting of dari and crushed coal in substantially the proportions specified, said dari being a non-fibrous grain substance substantially as described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two witnesses.

ALEXANDER EDWIN TUCKER.

Witnesses:

F. M. BURTON, G. T. Cox. 

